Cruising | Queer History and Culture
Conversations about lesbian bars, sapphic spaces, and beyond! Not sure where to start? You don’t have to listen in order! Pick your favorite city, space, or LGBTQ+ icon and dive in. Season 1 follows creators Sarah Gabrielli, Rachel Karp, and Jen McGinity on their 2021 cross-country road trip to every lesbian bar in the U.S., sharing the stories of the humans that run these spaces and the humans that call them a home. Season 2 features 14 more spaces, chronicling the current lesbian bar resurgence AND taking you back in time to lesbian bars of decades past. In Season 3, host Sarah Gabrielli sits down with history-making lesbians and LGBTQ+ folks to discuss all kinds of queer spaces - from bookstores, to farms, to peace encampments and more! New episodes air every other Tuesday.
Episodes
December 9, 2025 • 1 min
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November 25, 2025 • 75 mins
Guest Carmen Maria Machado is a writer of queer horror, essays, and short stories. She is most well-known for her memoir, In the Dream House, which came out in 2019, and really took the queer lit world by storm. In it, she brings light to a concept often shied away from - domestic violence and abuse within queer relationships.
While writing the memoir, Carmen did a lot of research into the history of domestic abuse within the lesb...
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November 11, 2025 • 71 mins
Elaine Stott charmed audiences back in 2019 on the 39th season of CBS's Survivor. She was a shining light on her season and proved that a lesbian could, quite easily, win over the hearts of America, as well as her fellow castaways. This is Elaine's story - one of tomboyishness, and skipping school, and fierce independence. We discuss growing up in small-town Kentucky (where she broke records for the most write-ups in school history...
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October 28, 2025 • 54 mins
Some of the most beloved lesbian bars of the past few decades have been the creations of our guest, Brooke Webster. This week, Brooke shares the stories behind Meow Mix (1996-2004) and Cattyshack (2005-2009). Her bars quickly became cultural phenomenons - from shoutouts on Ellen's coming out episode to features in Kevin Smith's cult classic lesbian film, Chasing Amy (1997). We also get to know Brooke herself, her rich history of ac...
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In 1999, Jess Dobkin and Lisa DeBoer formed the activist group Lesbians for Liberty. Their purpose was to push for visibility in the WNBA and specifically, at the New York Liberty games. In Act I, Jess and Lisa sit down with Sarah to discuss the history of lesbians and the WNBA, the story of the Lesbian Time-Out Kiss-In, and their experiences in activist groups like the Lesbian Avengers. In Act II, Jess remains to talk about some ...
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September 30, 2025 • 75 mins
Radical lesbian activist Oak Chezar spent three years protesting nuclear war at Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp, and another five living on lesbian women's lands. Some of Oak's stories were aired on our original Greenham Common episode with Sue Say and, due to popular demand, we bring you Sarah's full conversation with her here today. Tune in for never-before-seen tales of creative actions, annoying law enforcement, living outsi...
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September 16, 2025 • 48 mins
Ronnie D. Ron (also known as Ronnie-Ron and Sha'ron Harris) came up in the LA Black gay disco scene, and soon went on to found Shakedown in 1996. Shakedown was a special place - where women celebrated each other, danced freely and exotically, and found lovers and family. Ronnie discusses the origins of Shakedown, the making of Leilah Weinraub's 2018 documentary, and why they eventually had to close their doors...
-Watch Shakedo...
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September 2, 2025 • 64 mins
In this episode, we sit down with Tricia Cooke — the creative force behind the recent lesbian comedies Drive-Away Dolls and Honey Don’t. Married to filmmaker Ethan Coen (yes, of the Coen brothers), Tricia has long identified as a lesbian, and we dive into how that identity intersects with her decades-long, straight-presenting poly marriage. The conversation spans two interviews a year apart: first, in Tricia and Ethan’s Manhattan h...
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August 19, 2025 • 43 mins
Leigh (@lshfoster) and Ellie (@elliebrigida) hang out with Lisa Cannistraci, the owner of Henrietta Hudson, the longest running lesbian bar in the country, (@henriettahudson), to chat about her experience running the bar. From taking Madonna on a tour of all of the lesbian bars in NYC, to Melissa Etheridge taking over the stage when the band started playing "Come to My Window", Lisa has seen it all. She talked to us about embracing...
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August 12, 2025 • 62 mins
Another feed swap this week - with The Queer Family Podcast with Jaimie Kelton!
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Jaimie sits down with Brian Rosenberg, longtime advocate, dad of three, and founder of Gays With Kids and GWK Academy. From navigating HIV and homophobia in the '80s to building a beautiful family through adoption and surrogacy, Brian shares his powerful story with honesty, humor, and heart.
He opens up about the challenges of coming out as HIV...
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August 5, 2025 • 92 mins
Cruising is taking a a short summer hiatus and, in the meantime, sharing episodes from other queer podcasts we love! First up is Shame Spiral with psychotherapist-turned-comedian Ely Kreimendahl. This is her hilarious interview with comedian Robby Hoffman (Hacks, Workin' Moms, The Chris Gethard Show, Odd Squad, Just For Laughs), which originally aired April 18, 2023:
"This week I spiraled out with ridiculously funny & brilliant...
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Womencrafts is one of only 13 feminist book stores left in the country, and a pillar of Provincetown, MA. This week, we sit down with Michelle Axelson, the owner of Womencrafts since taking over in 2015. Michelle shares the history of the shop (first owned by lesbians in 1976), how she found her place in Ptown, and why so many people have come out for the first time at Womencrafts (they offer a dyke discount) ...
Check out the ...
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We're diving into the rich history and culture of queer country western dancing. First, Sean Monaghan will share the story of Stud Country - how he discovered queer line dancing at the historic Oil Can Harry's, and how (along with his cofounder, Bailey) Sean founded Stud Country and brought about a renaissance of country western dancing to a younger generation of queers. In Act 2, Susanna Stein shares her own journey in the queer d...
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Our Guest this week, Heather Purser, made headlines back in 2011 when she single handedly passed same-sex marriage in the Suquamish tribe in Seattle, Washington. Today, Heather is a Suquamish lesbian activist and commercial diver! She shares her story of accepting her own identity, finding her childhood crush, and making space for herself within her community.
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June 10, 2025 • 62 mins
Holly Near is a world-renowned singer and activist, known for producing music with powerful political messaging - she sings about war, racism, queer love and much more. She is one of the early pioneers of Women's Music (also known as radical lesbian feminist music) and the first lesbian to come out in People Magazine in 1975. Holly started her political career in the anti-war movement. Most notably, joining Jane Fonda's FTA (Free T...
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This week, we sit down with Angela Denise Davis, the creative director and podcast host for ZAMI NOBLA - the National Organization of Black Lesbians on Aging. She's also a scholar, organizer, minister, and Ukulele instructor. ZAMI NOBLA, founded in 2011 by Angela's partner Mary Anne Adams, is the leading advocacy organization dedicated to empowering Black lesbians over 40. Angela breaks down her experiences with aging and vision lo...
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May 13, 2025 • 49 mins
For the first time, we feature two interviews - two dykes, from two different generations - on the same concept: Dyke Drag. First, we'll hear from I'm Baby, a Brooklyn drag performer who started an event they call "Dyke Drag" which brings gender-diverse drag to sapphic spaces around the city. In Act 2, we meet Denise Gaylord, a local Ptown lesbian who ran an annual brunch also called "Dyke Drag" back in the 90s. Tune in to find out...
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April 29, 2025 • 40 mins
Robin Tyler is a history-making activist and stand-up comic, that's been on the scene since moving to New York City in the 1960's. Robin is a treasure trove of punchlines and queer history. She shares some of her most famous stories - like making a name for herself as a female impersonator, calling for 3 Marches on Washington, being the first out gay comic on national television, and successfully suing the state of California for t...
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The Greenham Common Women’s Peace Encampment was an anti-nuke encampment outside of a US military base in England, that women (and loads of lesbians) occupied from 1981 all the way through 2000. Fed up with male-on-male violence, and society's expectations on women, Sue Say joined the protest in its very beginnings as an 18-year-old. There, every day was exciting, for better or for worse. Greenham women were evicted from their camp...
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Valery Hughes is a retired nurse who spent her career working in HIV/AIDS care and research. She coauthored Nurses On The Inside: Stories Of The HIV/AIDS Epidemic In NYC with her colleague, Ellen Matzer, after working together in designated AIDS units for many years. Valery takes us behind the scenes of some of the city's busiest hospitals - from crossing paths with her first AIDS case in 1979, to all of the stigma around the disea...
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